Free Republic

It's house-cleaning time for the major networks as the cancellation ax falls in order to make for new additions in the fall. Some shows, such as NBC's "State of Affairs" and "Constantine," have been off the air so long that it feels they'd already been cancelled. But the formal notice falls just as hard even when if it is long expected.

Wolf Hall, the BBC adaptation of Hillary Mantel’s novel about early Tudor England, began airing on PBS’s “Masterpiece Theater” Easter Sunday night. It’s brilliant television. It’s also a serious distortion of history. And it proves, yet again, that anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable bigotry in elite circles in the Anglosphere. The distortions and bias are not surprising, considering the source. Hillary Mantel is a very talented, very bitter ex-Catholic who’s said that the Church today is “not an institution for respectable people” (so much for the English hierarchy’s decades-long wheedling for social acceptance). As she freely concedes, Mantel’s aim in...

Comedian and radio personality Adam Carolla is apparently a big fan of Sen. Ted Cruz. During a Friday morning interview with the Texas Republican, Carolla approved of the presidential candidate and personally thanked him for wanting to outright abolish the Internal Revenue Service. “Thank you so much for wanting to eliminate the IRS,” Carolla began the conversation. “It’s driving me nuts.” “I think that is a powerful populist issue and today is the day when its on people’s minds,” Cruz said, reminding listeners that Wednesday was Tax Day. Carolla argued that taxes are an important issue that gets overshadowed by...

As we mark the 40th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fox is prepping a remake of the cult classic. The two-hour taped event special, which is in development with a cast-contingent order, is executive produced by Gail Berman of The Jackal Group; the 1975 movie's producer Lou Adler; and Kenny Ortega, who is set to direct and choreograph. Fox 21 TV Studios is producing.

Conservatives know what to expect when the networks create shows about lawyers. From "L.A. Law" to "Ally McBeal," we've observed countless crusading liberal protagonists confront and defeat conniving corporate executives and other corrupt establishment villains. This seemed to describe "The Good Wife" on CBS over the past five years. But something interesting has happened over the past few weeks. Producers have introduced a wealthy conservative character named Reese Dipple, who engages seasoned liberal lawyer Diane Lockhart on the hot-button social issues of the day. As they say on cable TV, you won't believe what happens next. This debate began because...

Richard Dysart, the Emmy-winning actor who portrayed the cranky senior partner Leland McKenzie in the slick, long-running NBC drama L.A. Law, has died. He was 86.Dysart, who also played Coach in the original 1972 Broadway production of Jason Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning That Championship Season, died Sunday at home in Santa Monica after a long illness, his wife, artist Kathryn Jacobi, told The Hollywood Reporter ...He ... was the bad guy who battled Clint Eastwood in Pale Rider ...

Geoffrey Lewis, the father of actress Juliette Lewis, has died. He was 79 ... Lewis was well known for his appearances in western films and his roles in multiple Clint Eastwood movies ... He also had various television credits on popular series ...

Each December since I-don’t-know-when, I enjoy speculating over what the best Super Bowl matchup would be from an entertainment perspective. Oftentimes that doesn’t mean both top seeds from the AFC and NFC making it to February (as was the case last month), but what game will create the biggest buzz, controversy and hype. This year, I saw that matchup not as Seahawks-Patriots (Richard Sherman is so 2014), but Cowboys-Patriots instead. Just the presence of Tony Romo and all the buildup around his legacy (which has taken a very unfair rap as a choker in big spots despite stats to the...

Peter, an FBI agent stationed in Jerusalem who, while investigating a murder of a young female archaeologist, uncovers a conspiracy 2000 years in the making.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, winds up his exploratory presidential campaign weekend in New York tonight - on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. The appearance, which was not announced by his political staff, concludes a whirlwind trip to South Carolina and New Hampshire. On Saturday afternoon, Cruz started with a speech at the South Carolina National Security Action Summit, followed by a hop to the Granite State Sunday for the “Strafford County Republican Committee Chili and Chat with Sen. Cruz.” Then it was the Grafton County Lincoln Day Dinner and this morning’s "Politics and Eggs" breakfast at the New Hampshire...

A theme that dramas and soap operas have dwelled on is the spats people can have over what their ancestors may leave for them. Life imitates art has been my experience seeing relatives squabble over the dead carcasses, but some have taken the issue to heart in a new television series on the Fox Business Network (FBN) called Strange Inheritance. The episodes I watched did not involve fisticuffs, but they incorporate many of the same decisions that one has to confront upon the death of a loved one. First, there are the wishes of the dear departed. What did the...

The British actor will reportedly star as a conservative Italian-American pontiff in The Young Pope Jude Law is in negotiations to play a fictional pope in a TV series about the first Italian-American pontiff in history, according to unconfirmed reports.According to reports in the Italian media, Law is in talks to play the lead in The Young Pope, the new series by Italian director Paolo Sorrentino, whose film, The Great Beauty, won an Oscar in 2014 for best film in a foreign language.Tony Grisoni, one of the co-writers on the series, told Variety that The Young Pope will be...

Leonard Nimoy—the famed actor synonymous with Star Trek’s iconic Mr. Spock—died on Feb. 27. He leaves behind two children, a storied career and one of the most recognizable characters in pop culture. He’s also a reminder of a different era in America—the years after World War II when the military was more connected to the public, and when it wasn’t so strange for an actor to be a soldier at the same time. In the early ’50s, Nimoy was just another hungry actor with parents who worried he’d never have a real job. So he did what a lot of...

SURVIVE MY WILDERNESS : Nationwide Type: Reality TV NOW CASTING: The Producers of Naked and Afraid are seeking Families who want to live OFF THE GRID in ALASKA! A Major Network with the Producers of Naked and Afraid are looking for families with 2+ kids (ideally ages 2-18) who want a more authentic lifestyle where there’s actual value in your work and family time is more than just 15 minutes in the car on the way to school. Should you be chosen for the show, you and your family will move to Alaska for 3 months (as of now, August-November)...

If you want to see a blind Iraq war veteran from Tampa go hunting, tune into the Sportsman Channel Thursday night at 9 p.m. Joel Tavera, who was severely burned, suffered traumatic brain injury, lost part of his right leg, the sight in both his eyes and the fingers on his left hand on March 12, 2008 when a rocket exploded near his armored Chevrolet Suburban inside Talil Air Base in Iraq, will be one of three area veterans appearing on Amazing America with Sarah Palin. “It was awesome,” said Tavera of being on the show. Tavera shoots with the...

When Taylor Swift throws shade, you know it. Yet, the Internet had a field day when the "Shake It Off" singer was seated next to Sarah Palin Sunday during the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Show. But, despite multiple accusations of eye rolling and/or serious side eye directed at the former vice presidential hopeful, Taylor didn't cast any devious glances in studio 8H. If you look at a wider audience shot, you'll see that Taylor (and almost every other individual seated in the area surrounding her) was looking up at the monitors showing what viewers at home saw of Dakota...

Victoria Jackson, a six-year veteran of Saturday Night Live, is publicly wondering if her opposition to gay marriage prompted Lorne Michaels to treat her differently than the other cast members who attended the 40th anniversary of the show Sunday. Jackson, on her Facebook page, Twitter and in interviews, has mostly raved about Michaels and thanked the creator of SNL numerous times for hiring her in 1986, though she is also saying that she was the only castmember at Sunday's event to be banished to an overflow room. Some bloggers noted the oddity and were wondering if Michaels or someone else...

Sound Concepts installs the largest Elan g! system ever in 43,000-square-foot home featured in 'Amazing America with Sarah Palin' and 'Clash of the Ozarks' cable TV shows. Home amenities include a tanning room, golf simulator and deer processing plant. How do you get your home or technology installation featured on national television? Make it enormous, make it impressive and create an original house that blows people away. Having recently appeared on both Discovery Channel’s “Clash of the Ozarks” and Sportsman Channel’s “Amazing America with Sarah Palin,” this Arkansas residence has many unique and luxurious features, including the largest ELAN g!...

<p>Sarah Palin during an audience question-and-answer session at the "Saturday Night Live" 40th-anniversary special last week.</p> <p>Sarah Palin in 2016?</p> <p>Even she thinks that’s a joke.</p> <p>The former vice-presidential candidate made her final transition to pure celebrity and political punch line on Sunday night, when Lorne Michaels’s “Saturday Night Live” celebrated its 40th birthday with a comic extravaganza that became NBC Entertainment’s top-rated show in more than a decade.</p>

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's receiving encouragement to run for president from an unlikely source — Rev. Al Sharpton. The MSNBC host and civil rights leader tweeted that during a meeting on the red carpet at the 40th anniversary episode of Saturday Night Live on Sunday, he encouraged Palin on Twitter to make a bid for the White House — but not with the intention of winning. Reverend Al Sharpton ✔ @TheRevAl I saw Sarah Palin on the red carpet and we talked to Xtra together. I urged her to run in 2016 and help the Democrats out. 9:24...